’I’m Danny Boyle’s fan boy’

Anurag Kashyap on how the Oscar winner is helping him with his script for Bombay Velvet, the film he'd like to cast Aamir Khan in

Anurag Kashyap on how the Oscar winner is helping him with his script for Bombay Velvet, the film he'd like to cast Aamir Khan in

Anurag Kashyap's tide has turned. He has bounced from the director who had three of his films (Paanch, Black Friday, Gulal) stuck, to one who has a bona fide success in Dev.D, one of 2009's few hits.

Kashyap was the frustrated filmmaker for years. His Paanch, a powerful debut that became a favourite among preview audiences, is still to see the light of a theatre release. Black Friday had a long court battle before it released. Meanwhile, Anurag made Gulal, the Hanuman sequel and No Smoking, a film that sunk into indecipherability. Along came Dev.D, an Anurag re-telling of the Bengali tragedy that turned into an overnight hit.

For Anurag, success has meant a nine-film deal with UTV, freedom to make his films and buzz that his next film Bombay Velvet, a trilogy set in Mumbai, will star Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and John Abraham, and is being produced by Danny Boyle.

We seek Anurag out in his office to sift what's fiction, what's fact. Arguably, Anurag is one of the Hindi film industry's brightest minds, but his office is unpretentious. It has framed posters of his debacle No Smoking, as well as Subhash Ghai's hit Kalicharan. Anurag rolls cigarettes and answers our questions the way he always has unflinchingly honest, funny, passionate and articulate.u00a0u00a0u00a0
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How has life been after Dev.D became a hit?
Things are easier because UTV is backing me. I've just signed a nine-picture deal. They understand the space that I want to go in. A hit has liberated me and helped me to push my boundaries.

With UTV, I'm on a salary for nine movies. I'm not charging crores per film. What do I need money for? I have the largest personal DVD library in the country. I travel to festivals all over the world; I meet people everyone dies to meet. I've met most of the people I admire, like Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino. I still have to meet Martin Scorsese someday.

There is so much speculation over your trilogy Bombay Velvet.
Bombay Velvet is happening only by 2011. I don't know what the media is talking about. Do you think an Aamir Khan would say yes or no before reading a script? My script isn't ready we've done 18 drafts so far. The script belongs to Professor Gyanprakash, head of the Davis Centre of Princeton University. He's writing a book which will accompany the trilogy. We first met when I was showing my movie in the US when my films were banned here. Bombay Velvet is a massive film and will probably be my only expensive one. It is set in the fifties and sixties so I have to build a giant, real set.

Who are the actors you've signed on?
There is no actor on board. John Abraham, who has incredible faith in me, has said he'll do it without reading a script. I've been trying to meet people. Aamir Khan is a man whose mind I respect so I've been using him as a sounding board. He's a man producing these kind of films. You use as many minds as you can.

I've not met Shah Rukh Khan for this. I've met Shah Rukh once for No Smoking. There is nothing in Bombay Velvet that I would go to Shah Rukh for. He doesn't fit into that scenario. There's only one central character per film. The second is John, who has unconditionally agreed to do it and for the third, I'd want someone like Nawazuddin (New York, Firaaq).

And Abhay Deol isn't part of this?
Abhay doesn't fit into Bombay Velvet. I'm extremely particular about casting. I don't want to make mistakes other people have.

So the idea of Aamir Khan fits in?
I first have to lock the script. Aamir will not say yes or no till I have done my work. I'm definitely interested in him, but it ends at that.

What was that news about you having au00a0 meeting with him in his vanity van?
I went to interview him! He was shooting an ad and I'm the guest editor for Platform magazine with this special issue on cinema and so I did his interview. Someone saw me coming out of his van and thought he was shooting Bombay Velvet with me!

Isn't Bombay a risky word to put in a title?
Bombay Velvet is based in a time when Raj Thackeray was not even born and Balasaheb was still a cartoonist.

One of the sequels of the trilogy shows one of the first marches that the Shiv Sena took out in the sixties.

Bombay was called Bombay then. It is a rightful representation of those times. If someone is going to be unreasonable for their political gains, then I'll take the legal course. I'll see to the end of it.

How is Danny Boyle involved with Bombay Velvet?
Danny has seen my work and I'm his fan boy (grins). He liked Black Friday and Dev.D. I needed his help on my script and I'm helping him with his script on Mumbai. He's not producing the film, only helping me with the script.
Studio 18 is producing Bombay Velvet. They gave me the development money three years ago.

Talking of fan boys, you have a hardcore following that goes by your recommendations.
Ramu (Ram Gopal Varma) has been my mentor, but his biggest weakness was that he was unapproachable. So I try to be approachable. It isn't always possible. When people disagree with me, I engage them in debate. It's better than having people who only agree with you. I've even hired people to disagree with me (laughs). My scripts get better. That's why I appreciate film critics who talk about why a film doesn't work. I learn from them.

So what are you doing now?
Smaller films. I've produced a film called Udaan directed by Vikramaditya Motwane. I'm going to direct an untitled film, written by (his girlfriend) Kalki. It's a thriller that we're shooting digitally. Then I'm creative producer of the UTV film Ram Leela and then I'll direct a film called 72 Virgins. And don't ask me what the film's about (grins). Then I'll direct this little idea I have called Wassey Pur.

Why the aversion to stars?
I have no aversion; some of them are terrific actors, but my economics don't support them. I can't wait forever. I like to make two-three films a year. I can't shoot in the street if there's a vanity van parked there. I think stars have a greater aversion to me!

And your brother Abhinav is making a film with Salman Khan, produced by Arbaaz?
It's a terrific script. My brother and I are two completely different people. He has completely made it on his own. He was one of the highest paid directors on television. I've read his script and it's better than anything I've written. We disagree a lot on many things, but he's a much more sorted person. I'm the guy who's detached and in his own world. I'm dysfunctional.

Salman, Arbaaz, my brother and I all went to the same school Scindia in Gwalior. Abhinav and Arbaaz connect.
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Everyone needs a producer like that. Abhinav and I met yesterday and I said, 'Great, like the Darshan brothers, we'll soon be the Kashyap brothers!'